Field of the Invention

Present invention relates to a electric power production, specifically to water feeder for small hydropower plants.

Background Art

For electric power production, small hydropower plants need a sufficient amount of water to propel water machinery - water wheels, turbines or screws, or other devices capable of changing water’s kinetic energy to electric. Water is fed to small hydropower plants through a specially constructed feeder, typically through a feeding canal, dam inlet or underground pipeline, which has dimension suitable for profuseness of water source.

Construction of such feeder canal is costly and demanding to fulfill the necessary administrative and construction requirements. Places, where such feeders can be built, are usually already used for water transport to SHP. And yet there are still many water sources with the potential for electric power production which are still unused. It’s not cost effective to build long feeding canals for rivers with great profuseness with a small gradient. It’s also not efficient to build small hydropower plants on water supplies, such as smaller rivers or streams, that only sometimes have sufficient profuseness. E.g. in mountain regions the profuseness of water supply is only during spring, while in southern latitudes the profuseness of water sources rises once or more times a year during periods of rain. Moreover, the watercourses with interesting energetic potential, e.g. great gradients, tend to be difficult to access from a construction point of view. Since known water feeders for small hydropower plants are buildings, it is not possible to construct them in places due to technical, administrative, proprietary or economical reasons.

Objective of technical solution is to build water feeder for small hydropower plants, which would remove aforementioned disadvantages, which would be usable both for water supplies with a great gradient and with great or variable flow, which would be constructionally undemanding, low cost and which would enable flexible usage.

Summary of the Invention

This task is solved by creating water feeder for small hydropower plants, which comprises inlet for water collection from the water supply, conduction for feeding water to a small hydropower plant and an outlet for water inflow into small hydropower plant. Present invention is characterized by the conduction being easily portable, with a hollow body made from flexible material, which after being filled with water which preferably has a circle or oval cross-section and its inlet is adapted for being temporarily or permanently placed into a water supply. Water feeder, respectively it is conduction is basically hose (high-capacity flexible hose), which allows a feed to small hydropower plants by tens to hundreds litres/sec, or by units of m ³ of water. Diameter of fully filled feeder differs by profuseness of water supply from tens of cm to multiple meters. Main advantage of water feeder in accordance with this technical solution is the minimal construction work required for its construction and bringing it to small hydropower plant. Thanks to this, both small and great watercourses, which in accordance to prior state of art would have to stay unused due to technical, administrative, proprietary or economical reasons, can be used for electric power production.

In a preferable design depending on the place of use is the conduction made of material chosen from a group consisting of: polyvinylechloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), rubber, impregnated unwoven or woven fabric, nanofiber and/or Kevlar fiber-based fabric. The conduction is thus flexible enough to adapt to the conduction in the flow of water source, to the unevenness of the terrain, in which or on which it is placed. Moreover, it is sufficiently resistant to UV radiation and strong enough to not be mechanically damaged due to puncture or wear. The conduction is also resistant to high and low temperatures and to pressure of the water being fed and also to the usual chemicals, which could breach material structure.

Shape of feeder inlet is adapted to water flow in watercourse in which it is placed. In case the feeder collects water from the watercourse, which has low surface, the inlet’s shape is rectangle whose vertical walls are shorter than horizontal walls, and the inflow is protected against clogging by combs. In this case the horizontal walls are as long as possible so that the greatest amount of water flows into the feeder at a low watercourse level. This is the case of water collecting from e.g., mountain streams.

In case the feeder collects water from watercourse with high level, the inlet is provided with water overflow to the conduction and the length of the overflow edge is adapted for the desired amount of collected water. Inflow is along its circumference protected by combs against clogging. This solution can be used for slowly flowing watercourses with higher level.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the conduction is provided with means for its placement on the surface of the terrain and/or above the terrain and/or in the flow of the water source. It is a rim on which the conduction can be hung or anchored on piles in places where the feeder overcomes uneven terrain, e.g., ditches or cavities in the rock.

It is also preferable that the conduction is placed under water for at least part of its length and provided with means for fixing it to the bottom or fixing it in the flow. For this purpose, the loops are created in the rim, behind which the conduction can be anchored to the bottom using weights and/or allowed to be guided freely in the flow profile using buoys. This ensures the correct routing of the conduction in the watercourse.

In the case where the feeder on the route to the small hydropower plant overcomes the elevation, it is possible to place the conduction under the terrain for at least part of its length, so the drop of water in the conduction necessary to drive the water machine is maintained.

Finally, it is advantageous that the conduction is made of several parts connected to each other by links. Any length of conduction from place of water collection to the small hydropower plant can be implemented as needed, and from smaller parts suitable for transport and construction.

Advantages of water feeder for small hydropower plants in accordance with presented invention lay in its easy construction, low purchase price and low technical demands, due to which it is possible to realize it in yet unrealizable or low accessible places or in the places where the water supply profuseness is not sufficient for yearlong operation. Water feeder is also mobile and it is possible to change its place even during the season.

Brief description of the Drawings

Present invention will be further explained with figures, which illustrates:

Fig. 1 side view of water feeder for small hydropower plants on watercourses with higher gradient,

Fig. 2 side view of water feeder for small hydropower plants on watercourses with higher level and lower gradient,

Fig. 3 side view of water feeder for small hydropower plants located on the weir, with extended conduction for the passage of the column of water collected by the inlet,

Fig. 4 radial section of water feeder conduction in the filled state, made of a single-layer foil with fastening rims with loops,

Fig. 5 radial section of water feeder conduction in the filled state, made of a multiple-layer foil with fastening rims with loops,

Fig. 6 detail side view on parts of conduction connected by links,

Fig. 7 detail side view on parts of conduction connected by rubber clamps,

Fig. 8 radial section of conduction made from one-layered foil in empty state,

Fig. 9 side view on conduction in water flow provided by upper rim with buoys attached and lower rim anchored to the bottom by weights,

Fig. 10 top view of water feeder for small hydropower plants located on the weir in accordance with fig. 3,

Fig. 11 side view of inlet on watercourse with higher level and lower gradient.

Preferred embodiments of the Invention

Water feeder 1 for small hydropower plants consists of inlet 2, conduction 3 and outlet 4 for the inflow of water into the water machine forming the energy unit of the small hydropower plant. Conduction 3 is in fact high-capacity flexible hose made of welded, eventually seamless foil. In the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the conduction 3 is formed from several layers 10, which together form a flexible and damage-resistant high-capacity hose. Fig. 4 shows the conduction 3 made from one foil. Material forming the foil is polyvinylchloride or polyethylene, polypropylene and other material resistant to UV radiation, and capable of resisting the pressure of transferred water. It can also be made from woven or unwoven fabric made from Kevlar fibers or nanofibers, or from the combination of these materials depending on the place of use of water feeder 1_. However, it’s true that the material solution must be resistant to abrasion, mechanical damage, and it is adjusted for alternating high and low temperatures and resistant to the pressure of the transferred water.

Depending on the size of the source and the selected diameter, the high-capacity flexible water feeder 1 is able to supply tens to hundreds of liters per second, or units of m ³ to small hydropower plant (SHP) 5. Water feeder 1 can be easily assembled, rolled up and easily transported to different places of use according to the need and usable amount of water.

The conduction 3 is provided along its entire length with a rim 9, which serves to hang the conduction 3 on support structures, which allow the conduction 3 to be raised above the ground, in the event that the conduction 3 passes from the point of collection of water through depressions that would slow down the fall of water in the conduction 3. Rim 9 can also be used for anchoring the conduction 3 in places, where the conduction 3 can slip from the desired placement, e.g., on the rocky terrain. Fig. 2 and 9 illustrates example of embodiment, where the conduction 3 is placed on the bottom of watercourse. In this example, the conduction 3 is anchored to the bottom by means of the rim 9 so that the line does not shift or twist underwater. Rim 9 is equipped with loops 14 for anchoring with metal pins or for sliding on metal structures or for threading anchor ropes. If the conduction 3 is placed underwater, it is anchored in the watercourse using weight 11 attached to rim 9. At certain intervals, buoys 12 are attached to the rim 9 for floating the conduction 3 in the flow profile and/or for better routing of the conduction 3. Fig. 9 shows the conduction 3 with upper and lower rim 9. The conduction 3 has circular or oval section after it is filled with water. For water collection the conduction 3 is provided with inlet 2, which is inserted into water supply, where it is anchored. When collecting from a stream that has a low water level, the inlet 2 has the shape of a rectangle, the vertical walls of which are shorter that the horizontal walls. This way the largest possible volume of flowing water is transferred into conduction 3. The inlet 2 is made of iron or plastic and enables connection to feeder 1.

Fig. 1 shows water feeder 1 for SHP 5 located on the watercourse with higher gradient and lower level, e.g., on mountain streams or mountain rivers, where the elevation necessary for the production of electricity can be obtained over relatively short distances. Depending on the quality and ruggedness of the terrain, conduction 3 is inserted directly into the watercourse bed. Inlet 2 shown in fig. 10 is placed e.g., above the waterfall and SHP 5 is placed below the waterfall, or a place where the flow has a large slope. The conduction 3 transfers water to SHP 5, where it runs small water machine, e.g., Archimedes screw, water wheel, low pressure turbine etc. SHP 5 can be anchored on piles in the watercourse, suspended on the structure, or on a float, which will allow it to respond to flood conditions and basically eliminate them, since the feeder 1 enables a continuous increase or decrease of the water level.

Fig. 2 shows water feeder 1 and electric energy production on watercourse with lower gradient. This embodiment is suitable for slowly flowing watercourses with higher water level. Inlet 2 (fig. 11) is provided with overflow 8 of water level to conduction 3, which subsequently transfers the water along the bottom of the watercourse to SHP 5, which can be kilometers away in order to obtain a sufficient water fall to drive SHP 5.

In order for the conduction 3 to be long enough, the parts 6 of the conduction 3 are connected with links 7. Both ends of the parts 6 of conduction 3 are threaded onto the link 7 and subsequently fixed using tightening straps or rubber clamps 13, as can be seen in fig. 7. Fig. 6 shows embodiment where the links 7 are formed as flanges of individual parts 6, which are connected to each other by screws. Mechanical links 7 can be replaced by welds. In such a case, however, the conduction 3 is not detachable and it cannot be shortened, for example, when transferring to another flow where a shorter conduction 3 is sufficient.

Fig. 3 shows water feeder 1 and electric power production on weir, where pre-existing swelling of water level and subsequent water fall. Inlet 2 is provided with water overflow 8 from water level to the conduction 3. Conduction 3 thanks to its extended part transfers water over the weir edge to SHP 5, which can be located directly below the weir. The conduction 3 is widened at the edge so that the volume of water received by the inlet 2 passes due to the low height of the water column at the weir edge. Water transfer is solved by the continuous expansion of the flexible conduction horizontally so that it transfers the volume of water received over the edge of the weir depending on the height of the overflow level, as can be seen from the top view in fig.io.

Both inlet 2 and SHP 5 can be anchored on piles in the watercourse, hung on special construction or on buoy, which allows fluent increasing and/or decreasing of water level and the functionality even when the flow level increases during floods etc.

Industrial Applicability

Water feeder for small hydropower plants can be used for electricity production on streams with undersized or variable flow, or alternatively on streams with great flow but small gradient, where it is not cost effective or technologically possible to build permanent feeding canals.

List of reference signs

1 water feeder for small hydropower plants

2 inlet

3 conduction

4 outlet

5 small hydropower plant (SHP)

6 part of conduction

7 link

8 overflow

9 rim

10 layered foil

11 weights for anchoring conduction in the watercourse

12 buoys for anchoring conduction in the watercourse

13 rubber clamp for link

14 rim loop